Topical Ten: seraph's top 2009 anime

After the categories I listed previously, the tradition continued, just like previous year of my 2008 list. So here's my personal choice for the best anime aired in 2009, ranging from Winter 80/09 to Fall 09.

10. Maria†Holic

MAL/official site
Airing date: Jan 4, 2009 to Mar 22, 2009 (Winter)
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: voted as my best winter series, there are reasons why I think Maria Holic worth the list. The comedies are out of this world, arguably one of the funniest show I've watched in 2009 (besides Minamike, as usual) with all the pseudo-yuri craziness involving Kanako and the trap Maria Shidou. Coming from SHAFT who never failed to overwhelm me with their unique animation art, I guess I should expect no less for Maria Holic's animation. Overall a truly entertaining show for its humor value.

9. Nyan Koi!

MAL/official site
Airing date: Oct 1, 2009 to Dec 17, 2009 (Fall)
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: I for one have a mixed opinion on the show. Nyan Koi is nice on its own way that it brings harem genre a new perspective. Though still full of some generic moe characters (which are rather obsolete to me), I still enjoy the show for its comedies, especially when it comes with Junpei's curse and how he had to deal with the cats. Great animation too, especially with the cameos of SnH-style jokes coming every now and then. Good thing the show still follow the manga for most part of the story, but then I don't have issue with any of the deviations.

8. Valkyria Chronicles

MAL/official site

Airing date: Apr 4, 2009 to Sep 26, 2009 (Spring)
Number of episodes: 26

Comments: This show might not be appealing to everyone, but at least for me, I think Valkyria Chronicle is one of the better show being aired this year. I've stated before that I'm quite fond with rpg-esque setting/plot, and VC, coming from a ps3 adaptation fit this description. The graphics were really nice and easy to the eyes (adapting similar style as the game). One of the series's strong point is the story and characters development, which were well-developed throughout (and the fact that it does not solely focus on Welkin and Alicia made it even better). Great ending too, although I would love to know more about the "other side" of the story, that is the Imperial and how much influence would they have to the main story. As I listed before, Valkyria Chronicle get my vote for the most "underrated" show in 2009.

7. Denpa Teki na Kanojo

MAL/official site
Airing date: Feb 4, 2009 to ?
Number of episodes: ?

Comments: an OVA that was good enough to make it into my top 10 list, beating many other TV series. I can't stress enough how much I love the show although so far only 2 episodes had been released; the story is brilliantly developed and conveyed to the viewer. The main character Juuzawa Juu might be a bit poorly designed, but imo the rest of the show cover this little flaw, especially the story which involves a lot of psychological thrillers. On one episode you saw a girl hitting the shit out of Juuzawa with her baseball bat, and on another you saw a sicko girl who lives in delusion with corpse in her house, and trying to "steal" other's happiness.

6. Tegami bachi -Letter Bee-

MAL/official site
Airing date: Oct 3, 2009 to ? (Fall)
Number of episodes: 26

Comments: Voted as my favorite Fall show. Letter Bee has arguably one of the best animation art in 2009 from the character design to the scenery and battle effects. Simply beautiful. The story is not something to be ignored either, combining emotional scenes well with entertaining humours, developed at a reasonable pace. Sometimes despite the touching and emotional scenes shown, I can't help but be amused on how there would at least one crying scene on every single episode. I agree with shin that Letter Bee could also be one of the most underrated 2009 series, along with Phantom (didn't put these in my previous list because I find VC to be even more underrated)

5. Spice & Wolf II

MAL/official site
Airing date: Jul 8, 2009 to Sep 23, 2009 (Summer)
Number of episodes: 13

Comments: Another great season of Spice and Wolf, too bad I could not make it as my favorite 2009 show as I did in 2008, because there are certainly others I find more fitted than S&WII. Animation and OP/ED concept didn't change much since the first season but still sweet nonetheless. Lawrence and Horo having their usual banter in every episode is joyful to watch, their relationship noticeably become much closer this season due to events occurring in all 3 arcs. Too bad this season have even more economic stuff cramped which were fairly hard for someone who has little experience in economy/commerce to understand their conversation at a glance. Great season, but as a whole I like season 1 more. Definitely need a season 3 to freshen things up.

4. Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini

MAL/official site
Airing date: Oct 8, 2009 to Dec 24, 2009 (Fall)
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: One of the best sequel aired this year. New female protagonist, awsm animation and music composition, new story (no more arc-based), but sorta fcuked up ending. The story was really well developed until "that" final half of episode 12, which I don't think is a good way to end the show. Too many questions left for us viewers to interpret, how I wish it was a 24-episode series. As a whole, I see a great deal of similarities between DtB and Phantom:Requiem, especially this Ryuusei no Gemini. Hei reminds me to a certain "Reiji/Zwei", although he is much colder this season. Suou looks pretty badass with her anti-tank rifle longer than twice her body height, and to me she looks a stronger version of loli Cal Devens, physically and mentally. One thing that still bothers me is how they spent like 20 secs for Suou's rifle summoning every friggin single time she used her power =.=

ps: By the way, am I the only one who would like to see the series to sway more toward Hei and Misaki's story?


3. Bakemonogatari

MAL/official site
Airing date: Jul 3, 2009 to ? (Summer)
Number of episodes: 15

Comments: Again, coming from SHAFT, you'd expect at least one thing from Bakemonogatari - unique presentation of the show with artistic techniques (Ef, Zetsubou Sensei, Maria Holic), and Bakemonogatari didn't disappoint me in this aspect. The OP and ED were nice, but not playlist material, at least not for me. That being said, the story itself was awesome and entertaining, depicting how the main character Araragi deal with his colleague's problems (all female, so you might as well see it as a pseudo-harem show) concerning monsters, and at the same time try to keep up with the main heroine Senjogahara. Though, I feel that some of the supporting character's background weren't being elaborated in depth (especially Sengoku's). Nevertheless it's a nice treat to see the unique romance between Araragi and tsundere Senjogahara. Definitely one of the best show in 2009. I wonder how long do we need to wait for subs of final 2 episodes..

2. Phantom~Requiem for the Phantom~

MAL/official site
Airing date: Apr 2, 2009 to Sep 24, 2009 (Spring)
Number of episodes: 26

Comments: 2nd best show I watched in 2009. Dark theme surrounding the involvement of mafia and assassination, with two trained, "heartless" assassins code named Ein and Zwei as the perpetrators. In a way the premise is similar with Darker than Black but with no special powers involved, and as this list suggest, I rank this show higher than DtB. The story were developed nicely, full of dramas and somewhat touching moments focusing much on Eren (Ein) and Reiji (Zwei) and their job as assassins (at the same time face their own personality conflict) before the third one Cal (Drei) joined the fun. I also commend the anime on how it was adapted from the game, because as far as i concern, there are various possible routes to be taken and the anime managed to integrate many of these paths into a single main story without sacrificing the quality of the plot. Maybe the ending is not what everyone wanted (especially the WTF moment in the final 2 minutes, which I thought could have been left altogether), but overall I'm pretty satisfied with the show as a whole.
ps: although the story has long ended, I still can't believe how the loli Cal Devens has grown up so much that she "stands out" even more than Eren o.0

1. Fullmetal Alchemist: The Brotherhood

MAL/official site
Airing date: Apr 5, 2009 to ? (Spring)
Number of episodes: ?

Comments: And the winner, my pick for the best anime of 2009 is Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Although the story took forever to end (just look at the snail rate in which the manga chapter is released), I didn't group FMA together with the likes of the neverending shonen show like Naruto, Bleach and One Piece. Added to that is the fact that how FMA story is finely crafted without involving too much mindless fights. FMA: Brotherhood differs greatly than season 1 where this time it was properly adapted from the manga. The animation quality are still great, and the plot development never stray much of the manga (saves the little missout parts which barely affect the main story). Which made me wonder how would BONES studio end the series, should they decide to finish it before the manga concludes. One thing about FMA: Brotherhood that I think is inferior to the previous anime original is the theme songs. So far I have yet to find any song that worth my playlist (unlike season 1 which had the likes of Kesenai Tsumi and Rewrite which forever remained in my anime playlist), but then it's just a matter of preference.



that's it. Although many of the shows aired on 2009 are crap, there are still great shows worth watching. I wonder how will 2010 be in my anime calendar. Too bad I probably won't be able to watch many because of my Honours.